Warhol and Miro artworks top Bonhams $1.9 Million Prints auction

The April 30 Fine Prints auction at Bonhams in San Francisco, simulcast in Los Angeles, saw strong participation onsite, over the phones and online to the tune of $1.97 million. Works such as an Andy Warhol Tomato screenprint in colors from the Campbells Soup I series, 1968, brought $52,500 (est. $15,000-20,000) and a Joan Miró Le Permissionnaire etching in colors sold for $43,750 (est. $25,000-35,000), illustrating the sale’s success.

Andy Warhol works in the sale did very well across the board. Two strong examples, from the Sonesta International Hotels Corporation, of Muhammad Ali, 1978, screenprint in colors, sold for $35,000 and $18,750, respectively (each est. $10,000-15,000). Strong examples continued with screenprints in colors from Warhol’s Endangered Species series, 1983, including San Francisco Silverspot, sold for $42,500 (est. $25,000-35,000); African Elephant, sold for $40,000 (est. $25,000-35,000); and Orangutan, sold for $27,500 (est. $20,000-30,000). Warhol’s The Marx Brothers, from Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century, 1980, screenprint in colors, that sold for $27,500 (est. $18,000-25,000) and Vote McGovern, 1972, screenprint in colors, that sold for $23,750 (est. $15,000-20,000), exceeded pre-sale estimates. Highlights from the Campbell’s Soup I series, 1968, also soared past their estimates: Black Bean brought 18,750 (est. $10,000-12,000) and Pepper Pot sold for $18,750 (est. $9,000-12,000).

Works by Roy Lichtenstein were a popular draw of the sale. Two examples of Crying Girl lithographs in colors each sold for $10,000 above their high estimates at $40,000 (est. $20,000-30,000) and $35,000 (est. $18,000-25,000). A third notable Lichtenstein lithograph in colors, from the Sonesta International Hotels Corporation, was At the Beach, from Surrealist Series, 1978, sold for $18,750 (est. 8,000-12,000).

Highlights in the sale included a delicious woodcut in colors of Wayne Thiebaud’s Candy Apples, 1987, sold for $40,000; Red-Yellow-Blue, 1986, by Richard Diebenkorn, a soft-ground etching and drypoint in colors, sold for $27,500; a set of four lithographs by Keith Haring, Untitled, 1987, sold for $22,500 (est. 15,000-20,000); and Standard Station, 1966, by Edward Ruscha – a screenprint in colors that was an unsigned early trial proof from the 66 undesignated proofs recorded by Engberg and Phillpot, sold for $35,000. To date, only four other trial proofs from the 66 undesignated proofs have come to auction.

The Fine Prints Department Director at Bonhams, Judith Eurich, says she is very pleased with the sale’s results, commenting “The sale’s results are a clear indication that the market has greatly recovered from recent years with both consignors and buyers eager to get back into it.”

Rounding out the sale’s strong lots were such examples as an After Marc Chagall, by Charles Sorlier of The Magic Flute, 1967, lithograph in colors, sold for $31,250 (est. $20,000-30,000); Shiko Munakata’s Ananda, pl. 9, from Two Bodhisattva and Ten Great Disciples of Sakyamuni, 1948, woodcut, sold for $22,500 (est. $10,000-15,000); Pablo Picasso’s Femme dans un Fauteuil et Guitariste, 1959, a linocut in black, brown and beige, sold for $25,000; Jasper Johns’ Periscope II, 1979, lithograph, sold for $16,250 (est. $10,000-15,000); and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s La passagère du 54 – Promenade en yacht, 1896, lithograph in colors, sold for $22,500.

The next sale of Fine Prints at Bonhams will take place October 22 in San Francisco, simulcast in Los Angeles. For further information, please visit www.bonhams.com.